Castle Dale City Swears in New Officers

Two new council members joined the Castle Dale City council on Jan. 8. Joel Dorsch and Kollette Cologie were sworn in as well as, Brad Giles, who is serving another term. Mayor Neal Peacock gave the council members their assignments, Dorsch will be in charge of beautification, city celebrations, youth council, maintenance and will serve as the representative from Castle Dale City to the fair board. Cologie will be placed in charge of the swimming pool and planning and zoning. Council member Jack Rogers will add dog catcher to his present duties. Giles will also add the position of representative to the Castle Valley Special Service District to his duties. Council member Dan Whiteleather will continue on with all his regular assignments.

Robert Midgely came before the council as a representative of the Headstart program to discuss the rezoning of the old jail facility. Headstart is interested in renovating the facility for use by the Headstart program. They have outgrown their current facility.

The Emery County Commission recently sent a letter to Castle Dale City indicating that they did not oppose Headstart asking Castle Dale City for the rezoning of the facility. Carolyn Jorgensen, city clerk, wanted Midgely to know about a sewer problem with the old jail facility.

Giles stated that it would be the county's responsibility to correct the problem with the sewer. Mayor Peacock also stated they have been before the county commission with a request for the barbed wire around the facility to be taken down. The current fence also in place along Center Street prevents Castle Dale from putting a sidewalk along that stretch. They would also like to see the county remove that fence so sidewalk can be installed.

It was determined that Headstart should come before the planning and zoning board for Castle Dale City at their next meeting on Feb. 4. It was also mentioned that part of the sales pitch to obtain a new jail facility was that the old one was unsafe. Jorgensen pointed out that the building is not necessarily unsafe, but it just did not meet federal codes and regulations necessary for a jail facility. But, other uses of the facility can be considered.

Dorsch mentioned that taking the fence down, removing the barbed wire and siren in place would improve the looks of the building and he would work on those projects.

Mayor Peacock said they have received a copy of their audit report and everything has turned out OK with it.

Giles reported that the Utah Department of Transportation had recently met in Richfield and the final plans are ready for the intersection in Castle Dale where the three intersections meet causing a dangerous situation. The drainage at the intersection will also be reconstructed and Castle Dale City will be responsible for the landscaping at the completion of the project. This landscaping project will be funded through the Castle Valley Special Service District as one of their projects for the city. This landscaping is expected to cost approximately $47,000, which will be given to UDOT as a lump sum payment at the end of the project.

Giles reported that all Castle Dale City projects for 2004 were approved by the Castle Valley Special Service District.

The mayor and council discussed the recent snow storms and the snow removal. Maintenance workers said there was a problem with vehicles parked along city streets which made snow removal difficult. Mayor Peacock reminded everyone that the sidewalk in front of their home or business is the owners responsiblity to keep clear. It was also mentioned that the Castle Dale snow removal team was called to help clear the new jail facility parking lot. The mayor said he was pleased with snow removal efforts and things had gone well.

A letter will be drafted to go out to city residents to remind them to keep their cars off the streets during snow storms. The city will probably need another load of salt to get through the rest of the winter and it was determined the benefits would far outweigh the expense in the long run.

Mayor Peacock explained some situations the city has had with vandalism by two youth in the city. Earlier these youth had destroyed some concrete with footprints and words written in the sidewalk. Most recently they stole some Christmas lights out of trees in the park, took them into the post office and broke them. They also took the ashtrays from outside of Headquarters and dumped them out in the post office. To add insult to injury, they then urinated in one of the mail slots. Mayor Peacock expressed his anger at these acts of vandalism. The city has received letters from the court asking for an estimate of the damages incurred in these incidents. Mayor Peacock thought the concrete incident alone incurred $4,000 worth of damage. They will determine the amount of cost involved in the light theft incident.

Problems with the concession buildings at the fair grounds was discussed. There are eight barrels of grease left over from the lamb fry. Dorsch said they would take care of that problem in the next two weeks. The maintenance crew also said they need a longer cord so they can steam clean the side of the building where grease has spilled. Dorsch said they would take care of a cord so this clean-up can proceed. It was determined that too many keys are out there circulating for this building and that they are considering at changing the locks.